Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;tenacious, post: 420555, member: 14553&quot;]A lot of good coins and stories! That&#039;s what I was hoping for.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>svessien</b>, Wow! I like your coin and story! That is thrilling!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Ok here&#039;s mine. </p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://Tantalus.fileave.com/Gemini.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>If you don&#039;t know what it is, it doesn&#039;t look like much, right? Well, you could call it the Black Tulip of Alexander the Great coin collecting.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I started collecting ancient coins 13 years ago with the coins of Alexander the Great. Although I have developed many other areas of collecting interest, ATG is still a focus of mine.</p><p><br /></p><p>About 3 years ago I was at a coin show in San Francisco.&nbsp; I happened to walk by the Harlan J. Berk table. Aaron Berk was at the table and no one else was around. I looked down and I couldn&#039;t believe what I saw. I literally stuttered: </p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Is that wwwhat I ttthink it iiis? </p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;It is. Do you want to hold it?&quot; </p><p><br /></p><p>I thought, &quot;You&#039;re going to trust clumsy me holding that?&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>He then let me take it out of the flip and hold it raw! </p><p><br /></p><p>But I have to tell you that it was <b>THE</b> greatest thrill in my 13 years of coin collecting.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>So what is this coin?...</p><p><br /></p><p>Well, no knows for sure. Some call it a coin, some a medallion. They are roughly 34mm and 38.84 gm.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>And there are only <u>10</u> of them known!</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>On one side of the coin is a deified Alexander, in military dress, holding lightning in his hand. No one but the gods, particularly Zeus, are ever shown doing this. This is significant because it is clear evidence of Alexander being portrayed as a god. He is also being crowned by a winged Victory.</p><p><br /></p><p>On the other side is what is sometimes interpreted as Alexander on Bucephalus, attacking King Porus on his elephant.</p><p><br /></p><p>Frank Holt has written a book about these medallions, <i><b>Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions.</b></i> In it he convincingly portrays these medallions as commemoratives made after the Battle of the Hydaspes River with King Porus. And given out as gifts to his officers and men in appreciation for extraordinary courage or deeds. The Roman sources even state that gifts were given out after the battle.</p><p><br /></p><p>I <i><b>highly</b></i> recommended this book for anyone interested in the coins or history of Alexander the Great.</p><p><br /></p><p>But there is also another interpretation of these coins. That they were minted in Susa in commemorating the Battle of Gaugamela. It&#039;s often overlooked, but this was the first battle that Alexander fought against elephants.</p><p><br /></p><p>As I said there are 10 known. Here are some other examples.</p><p><br /></p><p>The one in the British Museum:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://Tantalus.fileave.com/British%20Museum.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The ANS specimen:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://Tantalus.fileave.com/ANS.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>On the <a href="http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=16880&amp;postdays=0&amp;postorder=asc&amp;start=40" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=16880&amp;postdays=0&amp;postorder=asc&amp;start=40" rel="nofollow">Greek Military History &amp; Archaeology Forum</a> a <b>Giannis K. Hoplite</b> painted the Alexander side of the medallion. It gives you a better idea what is being portrayed.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://Tantalus.fileave.com/painted_ATG.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>I could go on and on. But I will stop here. Again, if interested I recommend the above book. And here is a little more detailed info:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=25924" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=25924" rel="nofollow">http://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=25924</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>And the coin that I held at the show, it sold for $90,000 USD at auction!</b></p><p><br /></p><p>Thank you Aaron Berk for the thrill of a lifetime![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in